Mercator vs. Hammer Patrol Craft - help!

[Dave Lucas]

Hey all;

In the upcoming game, I'm going to try to push for a Firefight IN SPACE!

The situation:

Last game, a wicked Firefight led to the bad guy finding a naiven on the ground worming its way away from its old host. (The bad guy is Francois de Loire, a PC played by Countercheck here.) Francois took this worm to his (relationship) Forged Lord and he's looking to strike at my Vaylen Trader/Spacer.

The Forged Lord wants to get clearance from the Merchant League in order to blockade the spaceport (it's a flying casino world - Burning Vegas is the thread). The NPC on the council hates the Forged Lord, though, so that might turn into a DoW on its own.

Anyways. I burned up the Forged Lord (because Countercheck is lazy ;) ) and I gave him a Hammer Patrol Craft with heavy armour (AT 2) and a plamsa battery. And some Steel bonus dice for being the flagship.

Then I compared my Mercator to the Hammer vessel, and it's not a pretty picture for my Vaylen dude. Even with my own (Concealable) battery, and even if I circle up an exp 6 pilot/gunner, I am going to get pwned.

So here's my request: I want to see this fight; I think it will be cool. But I want to stand a decent chance of seeing at least a Compromise. How can I beef up my Mercator in order to withstand this Hammer assault? I have 5 rps to play with.

(I've got a plan to turn things a little more in my favour based on the roll/DoW where the PCs try to get clearance to blockade the spaceport. But I could fail, and I don't want to get wasted from the first Superb shot opportunity.)

[Countercheck]

I AM NOT LAZY i'm just verr' busy an have other things to do and m'printer's broken... I had him statted... honest... but yours is better, anyway... I'm not a bad guy either. Not really. Well. No. Not really.

I know I shouldn't really be helping you here. But. Some suggestions.

Fighters. Deploy fighters. Stat them based on the Anvil Attack Sled.

Screw the battery. Use missiles.

Pack a whack of ECM equipment into the mercantor's hull, and prevent it from ever being locked onto.

Armour.

[luke]

You're fucked. No amount of equipment is going to save you. The only hope you have is a freaking hotshot pilot/captain with serious Command and Tactics. You've got to out-maneuver him.

But really, you've got to stop this fight before it happens. Otherwise, kiss that mercator good bye.

-L

[Dave Lucas]

Fighters. Deploy fighters. Stat them based on the Anvil Attack Sled.

I was thinking of trying to start another Firefight alongside this one, with Erik's PC Geza in his Hussar going head-to-head with Cheb's LT in his Anvil Attack Sled.

I like the idea, though.

Screw the battery. Use missiles.

I imagine it's for the Indirect trait, eh? That could help; but they will only be able to score Breach hits. I guess that means I can trade in the dice to target locations instead of bumping up the DoF.

Pack a whack of ECM equipment into the mercantor's hull, and prevent it from ever being locked onto.

To block the Observe, eh? That could work. Something like +4Ob to Sensors. Nice.

Armour.

I'd need AT 3 to make a difference. :)

[Dave Lucas]

You're fucked. No amount of equipment is going to save you. The only hope you have is a freaking hotshot pilot/captain with serious Command and Tactics. You've got to out-maneuver him.

But really, you've got to stop this fight before it happens. Otherwise, kiss that mercator good bye.

-L

:) Heh heh. That's what I thought. Looks like I'll have to rely on the Merchant Council's rejection of the Forged Lord's request in order to get a more balanced encounter.

[Paul B]

Will it make a difference if you can demolish the Contact roll? It seems like you could probably work out Outnumber (fighter escort), Superior Position (consequence of a Strategy or Logistics roll in advance?), etc. etc.

Otherwise, yeah, you're fucked man. Push for a compromise! Get boarded and jump into Close Combat!

p.

[stormsweeper]

Circles up some Vaylen pirates or something.

[Countercheck]

No, it's for the megablast trait, which lets you swat all the simultaneously, and for the intelligent trait, which makes it easier to hit.

Seriously, turn it into a Q-ship. A mercantor hull with automated hammer weaponry, automated sensors and signals...

Or, evil thought, have them kidnap the Marchessa and take her on-board. Then neither Francois nor Stephan, nor geza will be willing to shoot to kill.

[Dave Lucas]

Or, evil thought, have them kidnap the Marchessa and take her on-board. Then neither Francois nor Stephan, nor geza will be willing to shoot to kill.

That is an awesome idea.